LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS [Abstract]

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

12.           LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

The Company is party to a number of legal actions and claims, none of which individually or in the aggregate, in the opinion of management, are expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company's results of operations or financial position.  See the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 for the details of all of Bel's material pending lawsuits.  Certain developments that have arisen in legal proceedings subsequent to the filing of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K are described below.

The Company was a defendant in a lawsuit captioned SynQor, Inc. v. Artesyn Technologies, Inc., et al. brought in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas in November 2007 ("SynQor I case").  The plaintiff alleged that eleven defendants, including Bel, infringed its patents covering certain power products. With respect to the Company, the plaintiff claimed that the Company infringed its patents related to unregulated bus converters and/or point-of-load (POL) converters used in intermediate bus architecture power supply systems. The case initially went to trial in December 2010.  A decision was ultimately rendered in November 2013 in favor of the plaintiff, and the Company released a payment to SynQor of $10.9 million.  The Company subsequently received a $2.1 million payment from one of its customers related to an indemnification agreement and reimbursement of certain legal fees.

In a related matter, on September 29, 2011, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ordered SynQor, Inc.'s continuing causes of action for post-verdict damages to be severed from the original action and assigned to a new case number.  The new action captioned SynQor, Inc. v. Artesyn Technologies, Inc., et al. (Case Number 2:11cv444) is a patent infringement action for damages in the form of lost profits and reasonable royalties for the period beginning January 24, 2011 ("SynQor II case").  SynQor, Inc. also seeks enhanced damages.  The Company has an indemnification agreement in place with one of its customers specifically covering post-verdict damages related to this case.  This case went to trial on July 30, 2013.  In April 2014, a final judgment was rendered in this case, whereby the Company was assessed an additional $0.7 million in post-verdict damages.  This amount was accrued at March 31, 2014, and is subject to reimbursement under the previously-mentioned indemnification agreement.

The Company is a plaintiff in a lawsuit captioned Bel Fuse Inc. et al. v. Molex Inc. brought in the United District Court of New Jersey in April 2013.  The Company claims that Molex infringed three of the Company's patents related to integrated magnetic connector products.  Molex filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on August 6, 2013.  The Company filed an amended complaint and response on August 20, 2013.  Molex withdrew its original Motion to Dismiss and filed a second, revised Motion to Dismiss on September 6, 2013.  The Company filed its response on October 7, 2013.  There is no further update on this case as of the filing date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.